Corn-planter.



No. 790,630. PATENTED MAY 23, y1905. 'l 1 L.P.GRAHAM. l

CORN PLANTBR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

IHMIIIIZDCIDE DDDDDEDDDEDDCID @www l 110.790,63@ PATENTBD MAY23,1905.

f L.P.GRAHAM.

CORN PLANTER. APPLICATION HLED APB..1, 1905.

s SHEETS-SHEET 2:

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No. '19o-,630.

APATENTBD MAY 23, 1905. L. P. GRAHAM. vCORN PLANTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Patented May 23, 1905.

PATENT OEEICE.

LEVI P. GRAHAM, OF DEOATUR, ILLINOIS.

CORN-PLANTER.

sPEoIFioAfiIoNforming part of Letters Patent No. 790,630, dated May 23, 1905.

Application filed April l, 1905. Serial No. 253,380. i

To all whom, t may concern.'

Beitknown that I, Lnvi I. GRAHAM, of the city of Decatur, county of Macon, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefull Improvements in Corn-Planters, of which the y following is a specification.

grain seed-plates without interchange of4 plates. l

Another object is to provide a chain-actuated cumulative drop-planter which may also be used as a cliainless full-hill drop-planter.

Another object is to provide positive means for arresting the momentum developed by accelerating action, another object is to simplify and improve the general construction of the accelerating drive-gear, and still another object is to provide a detainiiig-valve that will conform to the peculiarities of the accelerating drive-gear and preclude hill-mixing in the vshank of the planter.

In the drawings forming part of this speciiication, Figure 1 is a plan of so much of a planter as is needed to explain my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the accelerating drive-gear. showing the conditions thatV exist `while the seed-plates are receiving motion from the carrying or covering wheels. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the drive-geanshowing the positions of the different partsat the termination of an accelerating action by the check-'row shaft. Fig. 4 is a detail of the inner face of the ratchet-wheel ofthe drive-gear. Fig. 5 is a plan of a seed-wheel. Fig. 6 is a verticalsection th rough the dropping mechanism of a planter, showing the conditions that exist while the planter is traveling between cross-rows and is planting in hills. Fig. 7 is a section vertically through the dropping mechanism of the planter, showing .the discharge of a hill from the shank of the planter.

Fig. 8 is a section showing the valves arranged for drilling. Fig. 9 is a detail in section on line in Fig. 8, showing the detaining-valve `in position to catch all but the last grain of a hill; and Fig 10 is a like section showing how the last grain of a hill is partly carried andpartly propelled past the vertical wall on the detaining-valve as the valve is opened.

The axle-shaft of the planter is shown at 1, and at 2 is shown one of the carrying-wheels of the planter. ed on shaft 1, and a chain 4 is driven from the wheelv 3. A seedbox is shown at 5, al

`sprocket-wheel 11 is recessed in one face, as

shown in Fig. 3, and it has the internal ratchetteeth 11. onto the drill-shaft, and it has a flange or disk 13, which iits against and closes the open face of the sprocket-wheel 11. A pawl 21 pivots on a pin 24 on the inner surface of disk 13, and it is held yieldingly in engagement with the ratchet-teeth of the sprocket-Wheel by a spring 23. The swinging end of the pawl is recessed in this instance to receive one end of spring 23, and the other end of the spring bears against a lateral extension 22 of the disk. The disk 13a holds the sprocket from moving sidewise in one direction and the collar 12 prevents motion ofthe sprocket-wheel lengthwise of the drill-shaft in the opposite direction.

An arm 1.4 on clieck-row shaft 7 carries a pawl l5 in position to engage the teeth of ratchet-wheel 13, and the pawlis held yieldingly in the relation to arm 14 (shown in Fig.

A sprocket-wheel 3 is mo unt- A ratchet-wheel 13 is fastened 2) by means of spring 20. The spring connects 95 at one end with a lug 17 of the pawl and at the other end with a lug 19 of arm 14. A stop 18 von pawl 15 strikes a shoulder of therock-arm and limits the retracting action of the spring. In this instance the -ratchet-wheel has eight teeth, the seed-plate 25 has twelve cells 26, and the seed-plate is geared to the drill-shaft in the proportion of twelve to eight, gear-wheel 39 having twenty-four teeth and gear-wheel 40 having sixteen teeth. The effect of this arrangement is to cause the seed-cells to advance in time with the teeth of the ratchetwheel, a cell advancing a space as a tooth advances a space, and the same effect would be obtained if, for instance, the cells of the plate equaled in number the teeth of the ratchet- Wheel and the gear-wheels were one as large as the other.

When the chain 4 drives sprocket-wheel 11, the motion is imparted to the drill shaft through teeth 11, pawl 21, and the ratchetwheel 13. In this case the seed-plate will have cells each adapted to hold a single grain, and the sprocket-wheel 3 will be large enough to almost, but not quite, advance the seed-plate far enough to drop a complete hill while the planter is traveling from one cross-row to another. As the cross row is neared the check-row shaft is rocked backward by a knot on the check-row wire or other outside force, the pawl 15 strikes a tooth of wheel 13, and by a sharp acceleration the required movement of the seed-plate is completed. The acceleration may be more or less within certain limits, and all inaccuracies of travel resulting from slippage of the wheels and other" causes will be neutralized or corrected as the movement of the seed-plate is completed by the action of the cheek-row shaft. As the cheek-row shaft completes its operative rock the back of pawl 15 strikes the hub 14 of arm 14, as shown in Fig. 3 in dotted lines, and arrests the momentum of the drill-shaft and adjuncts developed by the acceleration. During the accelerating action of the check-row shaft the pawl 21 may ride over a tooth, more or less, of the internal ratchet of the sprocket-wheel 11, and as soon as the acceleration ceases the chain takes up the work of slowly advancing the seed-plate, while the spring 16 (shown in Fig. 1) returns the check-row shaft to its original position.

The sprocket-wheel 3 may be of a size to advance the seed-plate a scant two-grain space, a scant three-grain space, or a scant fourgrain space while traveling from one crossrow to another, and, if preferred, sprocketwheels of the different required sizes may be placed side by side on the drill-shaft, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, facility of adjustment for planting different size hills being thus increased.

When it is desired to plant a hill from each cell of the seed-plate, usually termed hilldropping, a seed-plate is provided in which the cells areveach of a size to hold approximately the number of grains required in a hill, the chain is discarded, and a cell is passed over the discharge-opening at each cross-row by action of the check-row shaft.

In cumulative dropping the grains discharged from the seed-plate by motion derived from the chain are moved with comparative slowness to the discharge-opening and dropped therethrough almost directly downward, while the grain discharged from the plate at the termination of an accelerating action approaches the discharge-opening swiftly and tends to drop obliquely through the discharge-opening. The grain discharged by accelerated motion is carried to the discharge-opening of the seedbox just as the planter is dropping a hill from the shank and just as the upper detaining-valve of the second drop is wide open. Ordinarily the accelerated grain will get past the detaining-valve before the valve closes and properly complete a hill; but occasionally the grain will be caught by an ordinary detaining-valve and cause a mixing of hills in the shank, dropping` two grains in one hill and four grains in the next hill, for instance, and it is one of the objects of this invention to obviate this uncertainty or inaccuracy.

To obtain the result last above stated, I widen the shank at the discharge-opening of the seedbox on the side thereof toward which the seed-plate travels and provide the detaining-valve with a vertical wall which partitions the detaining-receptacle from an open space which forms a part of the chute in the shank through which the corn descends. Then as the detaining-valve is opened the accelerated grain is partly carried and partly propelled sidewise beyond the closed position of the vertical wall of the valve and out of danger of interception. In other words,the wall against which the accelerated grain tends to strike with a descent-impeding rebound is removed by opening the valve, and the grain is left free to follow its sidewise impulse and shoot out of the path of the valve. This mode of operation is illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, and preferred means for accomplishing the resultare shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7.

The shank 27 is provided with a seed-expelling plunger 29, and the plunger is actuated by an arm 28 on rock-shaft 7. A valveplate 30 is pivoted at 31 in the shank, and it is normally held closed below the plunger by a spring, as 3Q. A valve-lever 33 is pivoted at 34, and its lower end is forked at 35 to receive the upper end of valve-plate 30. A detaining-valve is formed on the upper end of arm or lever 33, and said valve consists of a horizontal shelf 36 and a vertical wall 37. When the detaining-valve is closed, as shown in Figs. 6 and 9, the grains discharged from the seed-plate by action of the chain drop into the receptacle, of which shelf 36 forms the bottom and wall 37 forms one of the sides. Vhen all but the last grain of a hill have been dropped into the detaining-receptacle and the last grain has been moved some distance toward the discharge-opening, the seed- IOO LIO

plate is accelerated by the check-row mechanism simultaneous with the opening of the detaining-valve, and the last grain of the hill is carried to about the 'position shown at c in Fig. 10 and impelled sidewise beyond the path of the valve and into the by-pass 38. In the illustrations the first grain of a hill is designated by a, the second grain by b, and the final grain by 0, three grains being assumed to constitute a hill. In dropping'twos or fours the chainis driven slower inthe one instance and faster in the other; but the last grain is accelerated to about the same extentv whether the number of grains .deposited in each hill is two, three, or four.,

In drilling the seed the chain is used, and the valves are held open by a lever 41, for instance; but when the planter is used for fullhill dropping the chain is discarded, as hereinbefore explained. The detaining-valve vis opened in'this instance by force derived from the plunger in an obvious manner; but the result attained by removing wall 37 and discharging, the accelerated grain forcibly sidewise is independent of the means used to open the valve.

l. In a corn-planter, the combination with a covering-wheel. a check-row shaft, a drillshaft and a seed-plate having a plurality of cells, of a sprocket-wheel journaled loosely on the drill-shaft and provided with ratchetteeth, a chain adapted to impart motion from the covering-wheel to the sprocket-wheel on the drill-shaft, a ratchet-wheel fastened onto the drill-shaft, a pawl carried by the ratchet- Wheel in yielding engagement with the ratchetteeth of the sprocket-wheel on the drill-shaft, a pawl carried by the check-row shaft and adapted to engage the ratchet-wheel fastened onto the drill-shaft, and gearing between the seed-plate and the drill-shaft timed to advance a seed-cell a space as a tooth of the ratchetwheel is advanced a space, substantially as described.

2. In a drive-gear for corn-planters, the combination with a drill-shaft and a check-row'. shaft, of asprocket-wheel journaled loosely on the drill-shaft, said sprocket-Wheel being recessed in one face and provided in the recess with internally presented ratchet teeth, a

ratchet-wheel fastened onto the drill-shaft adjacent to the open face of the ratchet-wheel, a pawl .pivoted on a side of the ratchet-wheel in yielding engagement with the ratchet-teeth of the sprocket-wheel, and a pawl carried by the check-row shaft and adapted to engage the ratchet-.wheel on the drill-shaft, substantially as described.

3. In a drive-gear for corn-planters, the corn- 4bination with a drill-shaft and a check-row shaft, of a sprocket-wheel journaled loosely on the drill-shaft. a ratchet-wheel fastened onto the drill-shaft, a pawl-and-ratchet connection betweenthe sprocket-wheel and the ratchetwheel, an arm fastened onto the check-row shaft, a pawl pivoted on the arm in position to engage the ratchet-wheel on the drill-shaft and a spring holding the nose of the pawl yyieldingl y presented to the teeth of the ratchetingly presented to the ratchet-wheel and a stop to limit the swing of the pawl toward the ratchet-wheel substantially as described. 5. In a drive-gear for corn-planters, the combination with a drill-shaft and a check-row shaft, of a sprocket-wheel journaled loosely on the drill-shaft, a'ratchet-wheel fastened onto the drill-shaft, a pawl-and-ratchet connection between the sprocket-wheel and the ratchetwheel, an arm fastened onto the check-'row shaft, a pawl pivoted on the arm in position to engage the ratchet-wheel on the drill-shaft, and a stop-bearing to lock the pawl against swing away from the ratchet-wheel while the check-row shaft is at the termination of its operative motion, substantially as described.

6. In a corn-planter, the combination-of a seedbox having a discharge-opening, a seedplate located in the seedboX and provided with a plurality of cells, means for rotating the seed-plate to bring the cells one after another over the discharge-opening, a detaining-valve under the discharge-opening, said valve forming the bottom and a side wall of a grain-receptacle, means for opening and closing the valve and a seed-chute below and to one-side of the valve, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign my name in theL IOO 

